Ballad (Joys of Life)

The Ballad (Joys of Life) features two loves of František Kupka portrayed on horses at the seashore, the prematurely dead Marie Brühn from Denmark and Gabrielle from France. In January 1902, he mentioned this painting in a letter to his friend, the poet Josef Svatopluk Machar: “You ask me in your letter what I am doing at the moment. ? I am trying to express, artfully and simply, the feelings I would have while sitting alone at the seashore? they are two women, rather hideous, on horses. They trotted up to the seaside and now look up to the warm shine of the setting sun while the entire shore, sea, and clouds tune up to unknown joys and, to top it all, the clouds give an impression of thousands of dwarves dancing and jumping joyfully. ? We all desire joy - the clear non-material feeling of bliss and I wish that this painting would arouse similar feelings in everyone who sees it.” The back of the painting features an inscription “Epona ballade des joies”. Epona was a popular goddess in Celtic mythology which was associated with horses (“epos” stands for a horse in the old Gallic language) and would be depicted astride a mare. In this painting, Kupka thus interwove his personal story with Celtic mythology.